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By Henry, March 29, 2009 4:53 pm

Wear clothes that fit

Intro
This guide is written for my colleagues in the Acupuncture profession but you can apply these tips universally to any profession where looking professional is important. To start, I’m going to focus on the basics. Most of my advice is geared towards men since we seem to need the most help in putting together a professional look.

This Daoist could probably use some fashion advice

So why is looking professional important? Just like the white coat that we wear in the clinic, how we look tells a lot about who we are. Looking professional shows that we are serious about what we do, that we are professionals, and that we take time to look good for ourselves and for our patients.

Looking professional can mean different things to different people. Being in the field of holistic medicine, we have a lot more leeway in how we define professionalism than, say, western medical doctors. Part of it will depend on your personality and style. Another part of it will depend on the demographics of the people you are treating/targeting. Some of you may want to wear clothes that are eastern-inspired, yet still elegant and professional. Others may want stick to standard Western business attire.

Know Your Size
It doesn’t matter how beautiful or well put together your clothes are if they don’t fit properly. Unless you get your clothes tailor made, chances are that you are buying mass produced clothing made in standard sizes (also known as ready to wear clothing.) Know your measurements and clothing sizes before you go shopping. Otherwise you will be wasting your time and money.

The best way to start is to go to your nearest clothing store that sells dress clothes. If you live near a Nordstroms, I suggest going there. They have great customer service and a no pressure sales staff. You don’t have to buy anything. Just go to their dress clothes department and ask to get measured. If they are experienced, they should be able to guess your size pretty closely just by looking at you. They’ll break out the tape measure to measure your neck, sleeve, shoulder, chest, back, waist, inseam, etc. While there, try on some clothes and see what fits or not. Each brand may fit differently even if the size is the same. Take your time, ask questions and get a good feel for how things actually fit on you. Don’t feel bad if you don’t buy anything. Just thank them before you take off.

Shirts
How do you know a shirt fits you?

• When you button up the collar, your index finger should be able to fit snugly between your collar and your neck.
• The shirt’s seams should meet at the shoulder.
• The chest should not feel too puffy or tight.
• The sleeves should cover your wrists and reach the beginning of your thumbs.
• The cuffs should be snug enough so they don’t slip down your wrists.

How to find your size? Men’s dress shirts are sold by neck size, sleeve length and fit. For example, 14.5- 33 means that the shirt is for a neck size of 14.5 inches with a sleeve length of either 32 or 33 inches. Because it is for 2 different arm lengths, the shirt will have two buttons on the (adjustable) cuffs – the tighter cuff if you are 32 length and the looser cuff if you are 33 length. Fit wise there’s regular fit (assume this if it is not specified), slim/modern/urban fit (if you are thin) and relaxed/loose fit (if you have pudge). Not all shirts will have all the different fits. Also, shoulder widths will vary between brands. It is best to try them on and stick with the brands you know fit you well.

The beard needs a little work. Might be a clean needle technique hazard.

Dress shirts may also be sold by the more general small, medium and large. Usually the manufacturer will offer a table that shows the measure ranges for the different sizes. However, I don’t recommend buying dress shirts this way as they are less exact.

Trousers
How do you know if a pair of trousers fit? Traditional trousers should come up to your navel and rest snugly on your hips. Unfortunately, most pants sold these days are low rise, meaning they are meant to fit below the hips with a rise (distance between crotch and waist) of 8” or less. This is compared to the traditional 12” rise. Either way, you don’t want the waist too loose such that you require a belt to keep them up. You should wear a belt anyway but the pants should be able to stay up on their own.

Length wise, always try trousers with shoes on. The pant legs should not be so long as they drag on the ground. Nor should they be too short as to show your socks when you walk. When in doubt, go for the longer pair and take it to a tailor to get hemmed to the right length. Most dress trousers are sold unhemmed so they can accommodate a wide range of lengths.

How to find your size. Trousers are sold by waist, inseam, fit and rise. For example 30/32 means a 30 waist and a 32 inseam. The rise on most modern trousers are low-rise so they don’t rest on your hips but below them. There are a variety of fits. I recommend going with straight leg for a classic fit and silhouette. Personally I also like boot cut trousers because they are more flowy (personal style choice) and have wider leg openings to accommodate boots. I suggest staying away from skinny fit or baggy as they do not look appropriate for business.

Next up: Part 2 – Jackets and Shoes

Author’s note: I would like to acknowledge Alejandro Morales Jr for his contributions to this series of articles. Thanks Alejandro!

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By Henry, March 28, 2009 9:04 am

Congruence: The art of style for people of substance

Age-old sages and fashion-forward aficionados agree: how we present ourselves speaks volumes about who we are. But while fashionistas focus on the latest thrends and on designer clothing and accessories, the total package goes much deeper. This includes posture, facial expressions, eye contact, voice tone, personal hygiene, how we dress, and, more importantly, our personality. All of this is energy and human beings recognize positive and negative energy on a subtle level. We may not be able to explain it but we know when we meet someone we can trust and someone we can’t. It’s not in the words they say but in how it is delivered. It is about congruence. When everything about us is aligned – physically, mentally, and energetically — we create trust, openness, and possibility.

Bringing congruence into our lives involves combining substance with style. If you want to get your great ideas across, you need to make it accessible. If you have an innovative product that you know will change the world, package it properly or else people may not even notice it. Don’t be naïve in thinking that substance alone is enough. Even spiritual leaders like the Dalai Lama know the importance of PR and marketing. Consider your style to be your own personal ad agency.

If I paid $900 for this designer t-shirt I too would hide my face in shame.

To be clear, style is nothing without substance. It becomes just an empty shell. If your life is f-cked up, no amount of makeup or bling is going to fool people. Well, at least not other people of substance. At the end of the day substance will triumph over style. So make sure you continue to work on building your substance. But if you don’t want to wait until the end of the day, substance combined with style readily triumphs over both individually.

The Roots of Style
Style comes in many different forms but, in my perspective, all of it is rooted in helping to bring out the uniqueness and inner beauty of who you are as a person so that you are more effective in your interactions with others.

Most forms of style occur on a nonverbal level. How you connect with others, such as adding a simple smile, eye contact or a basic greeting, can mean the difference between someone being helpful or not giving you the time of day. Dressing well and dressing appropriately communicates respect for others and taking pride in how you look. Adding intonation, stress and rhythm into your speaking voice indicates presence, power and confidence. All of these can open doors and create opportunities. Human beings respond much more readily to these nonverbal cues than the actual words we use in conversation. As much as 93% of effective communication is nonverbal. Only 7% is through the words themselves. Humans have been communicating with each other long before any of our complex language systems were invented. Your words are important but they have to be congruent with your nonverbal cues.

When your style is congruent with your character, it will help accentuate your strengths. It will bring out your already interesting personality. But don’t use style as a crutch to hide aspects of yourself you need to work on. Yes it may appear to cover your weaknesses but only superficially. If you are an asshole, people will still know you are an asshole, albeit a second or two later. Continue working on yourself for your own emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. It is the difference between someone who is just physically attractive and someone who is beautiful and radiant. It is the difference between someone who is well dressed and someone who makes a strong presence when they enter a room. For a light to shine brightly, you need a good internal source of power. No amount of style can create true inner strength and inner beauty.

Dressing Well
Dressing well is one aspect of style. But it isn’t about wearing fancy clothes. It isn’t about price tags or designer labels. It is about congruence. This means dressing appropriately, according to the situation, season, mood and, more importantly, your personality, physical attributes and energy.

Daoist Inspired Clothing

For thousands of years of recorded history, humans have recognized the importance of clothing. Beyond mere function or eye candy, clothes are storytellers. They provide insights into the culture and outlook not just of the individual but of a given society or era. For the Daoists (Taoists) in ancient China, clothes help create a harmonious relationship between you, your environment and the people you interact with. The materials, colors, motifs, shapes, silhouettes and patterns all have meaning. Woven together, fabrics can alter or enhance your energy. There is a lot of ancient wisdom passed on through clothing but I will leave that topic for another time.

For now, it is important to begin by knowing what the existing rules are for dress. You can’t break the rules if you don’t know them first. And you don’t want to follow the rules religiously because, then, it isn’t really you. Ultimately you want to follow your intuition and experiment with what works for you to make your own rules. This is what will make your style truly reflect who you are.

In the next several articles on fashion and style, I will be covering some of the basics of what I think is important to dress well. Please comment below if you have any requests, questions or opinions.